Handling potential service load interruptions by presenting action items for service requester to complete to increase time to address potential service load interruption

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program product for handling potential service load interruptions. The utilization of resources, such as servers in a service infrastructure of a SaaS provider, are monitored. If the utilization of a resource exceeds a threshold, then the resource is identified as having an excessive service load leading to a potential service load interruption. When a request is received from a user requesting to access such a resource, one or more action items to be completed by the user are generated and presented to the user. “Action items” refer to any activity that is required by the user to be performed thereby providing the SaaS provider additional time to address the potential service load interruption in an appropriate manner. Additional action item(s) will be presented to the user until the SaaS provider addresses the potential service load interruption, at which point, the request will be serviced.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to software services, and moreparticularly to handling potential service load interruptions bypresenting action items for the service requester to complete toincrease time to address the potential service load interruption.

BACKGROUND

Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) is a software licensing and deliverymodel in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and iscentrally hosted. SaaS is typically accessed by users using a thinclient via a web browser. SaaS has become a common delivery model formany business applications, including office and messaging software,payroll processing software, database management software, developmentsoftware, virtualization, accounting, collaboration, customerrelationship management (CRM), management information systems (MIS),enterprise resource planning (ERP), invoicing, human resource management(HRM), content management (CM) and service desk management. SaaS hasbeen incorporated into the strategy of many leading enterprise softwarecompanies. One of the biggest selling points for these companies is thepotential to reduce information technology (IT) support costs byoutsourcing hardware and software maintenance and support to the SaaSprovider.

SaaS providers face the possibility of service interruptions daily dueto the nature of personal and business patterns. For example, thousandsof individuals may log into a fantasy football application at about thesame time as the football game is about to start. In another example,hundreds of thousands of individuals may start to read e-mails fromtheir e-mail application at the start of the work day (e.g., 8:30 am).In a further example, millions of tweets may occur in response to atweet or during an event (e.g., World Cup). Hence, there may be timeswhen the servers at the service infrastructure of the SaaS provider maybe potentially overloaded with servicing requests from users.

When such a situation occurs, there are various means in attempting toaddress the situation, such as adding more servers, redirecting therequests being handled by a server subject to a potential overloadcondition to another server, etc. However, the servers may not be addedin time to address the potential service interruption thereby causingthe SaaS provider to experience service load interruptions. The serversubject to being overloaded may not have time to redirect some of therequests it is handling to another server thereby causing the SaaSprovider to experience service load interruptions.

If, however, additional time could be provided to the SaaS provider tohandle potential service load interruptions, then the SaaS provider maybe able to address the problem in an appropriate manner.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for handlingpotential service load interruptions comprises monitoring utilization ofa resource in a service infrastructure of a Software-as-a-Serviceprovider. The method further comprises identifying the resource ashaving an excessive service load thereby causing a potential serviceload interruption in response to the resource utilization exceeding athreshold. The method additionally comprises receiving a request from auser to access the resource in the service infrastructure of theSoftware-as-a-Service provider. Furthermore, the method comprisesgenerating one or more action items to be completed by the user inresponse to receiving the request from the user to access the resourcein the service infrastructure of the Software-as-a-Service provider.Additionally, the method comprises presenting the one or more generatedaction items to the user to be completed by the user to provide theSoftware-as-a-Service provider of the service infrastructure additionaltime to address the potential service load interruption. In addition,the method comprises enabling the request to be serviced in response tothe Software-as-a-Service provider addressing the potential service loadinterruption.

Other forms of the embodiment of the method described above are in asystem and in a computer program product.

The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technicaladvantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject ofthe claims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network system configured in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of a managing unit inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for detecting a resource having anexcessive service load in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for handling potential service loadinterruptions by presenting action items for the user to complete toprovide the SaaS provider additional time to address the potentialservice load interruption in an appropriate manner in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention comprises a method, system and computer programproduct for handling potential service load interruptions. In oneembodiment of the present invention, the utilization of resources, suchas servers in a service infrastructure of a SaaS provider, aremonitored. If the utilization of a resource (e.g., processing cyclesover a period of time) exceeds a threshold, then the resource isidentified as having an excessive service load leading to a potentialservice load interruption. When a request is received from a user of aclient device requesting to access such a resource, action items to becompleted by the user are generated. “Action items,” as used herein,refer to any activity that is required by the user of a client device tobe performed thereby providing the SaaS provider additional time toaddress the potential service load interruption in an appropriatemanner. Examples of action items include profile updates, such asupdating the user's name, phone number, e-mail address, work title, etc.One or more of these action items are presented to the user to becompleted by the user. Upon the user completing the presented actionitem(s), the user will be presented with additional action item(s) ifthe SaaS provider needs additional time to address the potential serviceload interruption. Upon the SaaS provider addressing the potentialservice load interruption, the user's request is able to be servicedeven if the user has not yet completed the action item(s) presented tothe user. In this manner, the SaaS provider is provided with additionaltime to address the potential service load interruption in anappropriate manner.

While the following discusses the present invention in connection withhandling potential service load interruptions by a SaaS provider, theprinciples of the present invention may be applied to any provider ofsoftware services subject to service load interruptions. A person ofordinary skill in the art would be capable of applying the principles ofthe present invention to such implementations. Further, embodimentsapplying the principles of the present invention to such implementationswould fall within the scope of the present invention.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the mostpart, details considering timing considerations and the like have beenomitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

Referring now to the Figures in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates a networksystem 100 configured in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 1, network system 100 includes a communityof users using client devices 101A-101C (identified as “Client DeviceA,” “Client Device B,” and “Client Device C,” respectively, in FIG. 1)to be involved in network system 100. Client devices 101A-101C maycollectively or individually be referred to as client devices 101 orclient device 101, respectively. Client device 101 may be a portablecomputing unit, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smartphone, alaptop computer, a mobile phone, a navigation device, a game console, adesktop computer system, a workstation, an Internet appliance and thelike.

Client devices 101 may participate in a network, such as a socialnetwork, by communicating (by wire or wirelessly) over a network 102,which may be, for example, a local area network, a wide area network, awireless wide area network, a circuit-switched telephone network, aGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, WirelessApplication Protocol (WAP) network, a WiFi network, an IEEE 802.11standards network, various combinations thereof, etc. Other networks,whose descriptions are omitted here for brevity, may also be used inconjunction with system 100 of FIG. 1 without departing from the scopeof the present invention.

System 100 further includes a social network server 103, which may be aweb server configured to offer a social networking and/or microbloggingservice, enabling users of client devices 101 to send and read otherusers' posts. “Posts,” as used herein, include any one or more of thefollowing: text (e.g., messages, comments, sub-comments and replies),audio, video images, etc. Social network server 103 is connected tonetwork 102 by wire or wirelessly. While FIG. 1 illustrates a singlesocial network server 103, it is noted for clarity that multiple serversmay be used to implement the social networking and/or microbloggingservice.

System 100 further includes a Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) provider104 configured to license software on a subscription basis to the usersof client devices 101. In connection with providing such a service, SaaSprovider 104 utilizes a service infrastructure 105 of servers 106A-106C(identified as “Server A,” “Server B,” and “Server C,” respectively, inFIG. 1). Servers 106A-106C may collectively or individually be referredto as servers 106 or server 106. While FIG. 1 illustrates three servers106, SaaS provider 104 may include any number of servers 106 in itsservice infrastructure 105 to handle requests from client devices 101.

System 100 additionally includes a unit, referred to herein as the“managing unit” 107, configured to handle potential service loadinterruptions by presenting action items for the user of client device101 to complete to provide SaaS provider 104 additional time to addressthe potential service load interruption as discussed in further detailbelow. A description of the hardware configuration of monitoring unit107 is provided below in connection with FIG. 2.

System 100 is not to be limited in scope to any one particular networkarchitecture. System 100 may include any number of clients 101, networks102, social network servers 103, SaaS providers 104 and managing units107. Furthermore, in one embodiment, managing unit 107 may be part ofSaaS provider 104.

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration ofmanaging unit 107 (FIG. 1) which is representative of a hardwareenvironment for practicing the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2,managing unit 107 has a processor 201 coupled to various othercomponents by system bus 202. An operating system 203 runs on processor201 and provides control and coordinates the functions of the variouscomponents of FIG. 2. An application 204 in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention runs in conjunction with operatingsystem 203 and provides calls to operating system 203 where the callsimplement the various functions or services to be performed byapplication 204. Application 204 may include, for example, a program forhandling potential service load interruptions by presenting action itemsfor the user of client device 101 (FIG. 1) to complete to provide SaaSprovider 104 (FIG. 1) additional time to address the potential serviceload interruption in an appropriate manner as discussed further below inassociation with FIGS. 3-4.

Referring again to FIG. 2, read-only memory (“ROM”) 205 is coupled tosystem bus 202 and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) thatcontrols certain basic functions of managing unit 107. Random accessmemory (“RAM”) 206 and disk adapter 207 are also coupled to system bus202. It should be noted that software components including operatingsystem 203 and application 204 may be loaded into RAM 206, which may bemanaging unit's 107 main memory for execution. Disk adapter 207 may bean integrated drive electronics (“IDE”) adapter that communicates with adisk unit 208, e.g., disk drive. It is noted that the program forhandling potential service load interruptions by presenting action itemsfor the user of client device 101 to complete to provide SaaS provider104 additional time to address the potential service load interruptionin an appropriate manner, as discussed further below in association withFIGS. 3-4, may reside in disk unit 208 or in application 204.

Managing unit 107 may further include a communications adapter 209coupled to bus 202. Communications adapter 209 interconnects bus 202with an outside network (e.g., network 102 of FIG. 1) thereby allowingmanaging unit 107 to communicate with client devices 101, social networkserver 103 and SaaS provider 104.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

As stated in the Background section, SaaS providers face the possibilityof service interruptions daily due to the nature of personal andbusiness patterns. For example, thousands of individuals may log into afantasy football application at about the same time as the football gameis about to start. In another example, hundreds of thousands ofindividuals may start to read e-mails from their e-mail application atthe start of the work day (e.g., 8:30 am). In a further example,millions of tweets may occur in response to a tweet or during an event(e.g., World Cup). Hence, there may be times when the servers at theservice infrastructure of the SaaS provider may be potentiallyoverloaded with servicing requests from users. When such a situationoccurs, there are various means in attempting to address the situation,such as adding more servers, redirecting the requests being handled by aserver subject to a potential overload condition to another server, etc.However, the servers may not be added in time to address the potentialservice interruption thereby causing the SaaS provider to experienceservice load interruptions. The server subject to being overloaded maynot have time to redirect some of the requests it is handling to anotherserver thereby causing the SaaS provider to experience service loadinterruptions. If, however, additional time could be provided to theSaaS provider to handle potential service load interruptions, then theSaaS provider may be able to address the problem in an appropriatemanner.

The principles of the present invention provide a means for handlingpotential service load interruptions by presenting action items for theuser of client device 101 (FIG. 1) to complete to provide SaaS provider104 (FIG. 1) additional time to address the potential service loadinterruption in an appropriate manner as discussed below in associationwith FIGS. 3-4. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for detecting aresource, such as server 106, having an excessive service load. FIG. 4is a flowchart of a method for handling potential service loadinterruptions by presenting action items for the user of client device101 to complete to provide SaaS provider 104 additional time to addressthe potential service load interruption in an appropriate manner.

As stated above, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 for detecting aresource, such as server 106, having an excessive service load inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-2, in step 301,managing unit 107 monitors the utilization of the resources in a serviceinfrastructure, such as servers 106 in the service infrastructure 105 ofSaaS provider 104. Monitoring the utilization of a resource, as usedherein, refers to tracking the utilization of a performance metric(e.g., processing cycles, number of requests to be serviced over aperiod of time, memory usage, bandwidth usage, thread exhaustion,database lock contention) against the capacity of the resource inconnection with the performance metric (e.g., maximum number ofprocessing cycles, maximum number of requests that can be serviced overa period of time). While the following discusses servers 106 of serviceinfrastructure 105 of SaaS provider 104 as corresponding to theresources whose utilization are being monitored, the principles of thepresent invention are to apply to other types of resources that areutilized by SaaS provider 104 in providing software to be licensed bythe users of client devices 101.

In step 302, a determination is made by managing unit 107 as to whetherthe utilization of a resource (e.g., server 106 a) exceeds a threshold.For example, a determination may be made by managing unit 107 as towhether the processing unit of server 106A reached 75% utilization. Inone embodiment, the threshold selected is arbitrary and can be directedto either low or high utilization (e.g., 70% utilization versus 90%utilization).

If the utilization of a resource (e.g., server 106 a) does not exceed athreshold, then managing unit 107 continues to monitor the utilizationof the resources in the service infrastructure (e.g., serviceinfrastructure 105) in step 301.

If, however, the utilization of a resource (e.g., server 106A) exceeds athreshold, then, in step 303, managing unit 107 identifies the resource(e.g., server 106A) as having an excessive service load leading to apotential service load interruption. An “excessive service load,” asused herein, refers to the situation where a resource (e.g., server106A) is experiencing an excessive amount of utilization yet is stillable to service users' requests at such a utilization for the timebeing. Managing unit 107 attempts to identify such situations toidentify potential service load interruptions thereby allowing SaaSprovider 104 time to address such potential service load interruptionsbefore they actually become an interruption to SaaS provider 104providing software services.

In step 304, managing unit 107 monitors the resource (e.g., server 106A)identified as having an excessive service load to determine if itsutilization falls below the threshold (e.g., CPU utilization is nowbelow 75% utilization).

In step 305, a determination is made by managing unit 107 as to whetherthe utilization of the resource (e.g., server 106A) identified as havingan excessive service load falls below the threshold.

If the utilization of the resource (e.g., server 106A) identified ashaving an excessive service load does not fall below the threshold, thenmanaging unit 107 continues to monitor the resource identified as havingan excessive service load to determine if its utilization falls belowthe threshold in step 304.

If, however, the utilization of the resource (e.g., sever 106A)identified as having an excessive service load falls below thethreshold, then, in step 306, managing unit 107 retracts theidentification of the resource as having an excessive service load.

Upon retracting the identification of the resource as having anexcessive service load, managing unit 107 continues to monitor thisresource as well as the other resources in the service infrastructure todetermine if its utilization exceeds a threshold in steps 301 and 302.

Upon identifying a resource as having an excessive service load (step303 of FIG. 3), managing unit 107 handles the potential service loadinterruption by presenting action items for the user of client device101 to complete to provide SaaS provider 104 additional time to addressthe potential service load interruption in an appropriate manner asdiscussed below in connection with FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 400 for handling potential serviceload interruptions by presenting action items for the user of clientdevice 101 (FIG. 1) to complete to provide SaaS provider 104 (FIG. 1)additional time to address the potential service load interruption in anappropriate manner in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 4, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, in step 401, adetermination is made by managing unit 107 as to whether a resource(e.g., server 106A) has been identified as having an excessive serviceload.

If a resource has not been identified as having an excessive serviceload, then managing unit 107 continues to determine whether a resourcehas been identified as having an excessive service load in step 401.

If, however, a resource has been identified as having an excessiveservice load, then, in step 402, a determination is made by managingunit 107 as to whether it received a request from a user of clientdevice 101 to access the resource identified as having an excessiveservice load. In one embodiment, managing unit 107 is configured tointercept requests to the resources (e.g., servers 106) of SaaS provider104, including those resources that are identified as having anexcessive service load. In this manner, as discussed below, managingunit 107 can provide SaaS provider 104 additional time in addressing thepotential service load interruption.

If managing unit 107 did not receive a request from a user of clientdevice 101 to access the resource identified as having an excessiveservice load, then managing unit 107 continues to determine whether itreceived a request from a user of client device 101 to access theresource identified as having an excessive service load in step 402.

If, however, managing unit 107 received a request from a user of clientdevice 101 to access the resource identified as having an excessiveservice load, then, in step 403, managing unit 107 generates one or moreaction items to be completed by the user of client device 101 to provideSaaS provider 104 additional time to address the potential service loadinterruption in an appropriate manner.

“Action items,” as used herein, refer to any activity that is requiredby the user of client device 101 to be performed thereby providing SaaSprovider 104 additional time to address the potential service loadinterruption in an appropriate manner. Examples of action items includeprofile updates, such as updating the user's name, phone number, e-mailaddress, work title, etc. In one embodiment, managing unit 107 may onlygenerate and/or provide action items concerning profile items that havenot been updated over a last period of time (e.g., 30 days) or have notbeen updated at all. Another example of an action item includes what isreferred to as “crowdsourcing profile information,” where managing unit107 obtains publicly available information from social media sources(e.g., Facebook®, LinkedIn®) of the user and the user's friends andgenerates an action item to update a social media profile, such as aprofile on the user's Facebook® profile page. In one embodiment,managing unit 107 may determine the user's friends from the user'ssocial media profile page which contains a listing of the user's friendsor connections.

Additional examples of action items include a countdown, a puzzle and aCompletely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and HumansApart (“CAPT, such as when no work is required for the user to beperformed.

In step 404, managing unit 107 presents the generated action item(s) tothe user of client device 101 to be completed by the user therebyproviding SaaS provider 104 additional time in addressing the potentialservice load interruption. In one embodiment, the action items arepresented to the user via a user interface of client device 101. In oneembodiment, the action items are presented to the user via a dialog boxin the user interface of client device 101. In one embodiment, theparticular action items that are presented to the user are based on thetype of computing device (e.g., smartphone versus desktop computingsystem) of client device 101. For example, a mobile device user mightfind it more difficult to fill out a large form due to the small size ofthe display screen of a mobile device in comparison to a desktopcomputing system. As a result, a more simplified version of the form maybe sent to a mobile device user in comparison to the version of the formsent to a desktop computer user. In another embodiment, the particularaction items that are presented to the user are based on the perceivedcomplexity and length of answer which may be determined based on priorusers answering similar questions. For example, managing unit 107 maytrack the duration of time in the user's answering questions therebyproviding an estimation for how long a user would take to answer asimilar question.

In one embodiment, the action items presented to the user of clientdevice 101 are based on being directly related to the activitiesutilized by the user of client device 101. For example, if the userutilizes activities which require a profile, then the action items maybe limited to updating such a profile.

In one embodiment, managing unit 107 may track the user's previousresponses to the action items presented to the user. Based on the user'sprior responses, the user may receive designated action items. Forexample, if the user had previously dismissed particular action items,such as puzzles, then puzzles would not be presented to the user as anaction item in the future to reduce annoyances.

In step 405, a determination is made by managing unit 107 as to whetherSaaS provider 104 has addressed the potential service load interruption,such as by scaling out by adding servers 106 to service infrastructure105.

If SaaS provider 104 has addressed the potential service loadinterruption, then, in step 406, managing unit 107 enables the user'srequest to be serviced, including without having the user complete theaction item(s). That is, the user's request may be serviced prior to theuser completing the action item(s) if SaaS provider 104 has addressedthe potential service load interruption. Servicing the request mayinvolve having the requested resource (e.g., server 106A) handle therequest if the resource is no longer experiencing a potential serviceload interruption (e.g., utilization of the resource falls below thethreshold). The requested resource (e.g., server 106A) may no longer beexperiencing a potential service load interruption if SaaS provider 104was able to address the problem during the additional time provided toSaaS provider 104 by having the user complete action item(s).Alternatively, the user's request may be serviced by a differentresource (e.g., additional server 106 added to service infrastructure105 to handle the increase load, a replacement server 106 added toservice infrastructure 105 to replace the server 106 experiencing apotential service load interruption).

If, however, SaaS provider 104 has not addressed the potential serviceload interruption, then, in step 407, a determination is made bymanaging unit 107 as to whether the user completed the action item(s)(the action item(s) presented to the user in step 404).

If the user has not completed the action item(s), then a determinationis made by managing unit 107 as to whether SaaS provider 104 hasaddressed the potential service load interruption in step 405.

If, however, the user has completed the action item(s), then, in step408, a determination is made by managing unit 107 as to whether SaaSprovider 104 has addressed the potential service load interruption.

If SaaS provider 104 has addressed the potential service loadinterruption, then, in step 409, managing unit 107 enables the user'srequest to be serviced as discussed above in connection with step 406.

If, however, SaaS provider 104 has not addressed the potential serviceload interruption, then, in step 404, managing unit 107 presents one ormore additional generated action items to the user of client device 101to be completed by the user to provide SaaS provider 104 additional timein addressing the potential service load interruption. In this manner,SaaS provider 104 is provided with the time it needs to address thepotential service load interruption in an appropriate manner prior tohaving a significant interruption of its software services.

In one embodiment, managing unit 107 may implement the principles of thepresent invention discussed above to handle potential service loadinterruptions for designated individuals, organizations or groups.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer program product for handlingpotential service load interruptions, the computer program productcomprising a computer readable storage medium having program codeembodied therewith, the program code comprising the programminginstructions for: monitoring utilization of a resource in a serviceinfrastructure of a Software-as-a-Service provider, wherein saidmonitoring of said utilization of said resource comprises tracking autilization of a performance metric against a capacity of said resourcein connection with said performance metric, wherein said performancemetric comprises one or more of the following: processing cycles, anumber of requests to be serviced over a period of time, memory usage,bandwidth usage, thread exhaustion and database lock contention;identifying said resource as having an excessive service load therebycausing a potential service load interruption in response to saidresource utilization exceeding a threshold; receiving a request from auser to access said resource in said service infrastructure of saidSoftware-as-a-Service provider; generating one or more action items tobe completed by said user in response to receiving said request fromsaid user to access said resource in said service infrastructure of saidSoftware-as-a-Service provider; presenting said one or more generatedaction items to said user to be completed by said user to provide saidSoftware-as-a-Service provider of said service infrastructure additionaltime to address said potential service load interruption; and enablingsaid request to be serviced in response to said Software-as-a-Serviceprovider addressing said potential service load interruption.
 2. Thecomputer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein the program codefurther comprises the programming instructions for: proceeding withservicing said request prior to said user completing said one or moregenerated action items in response to said Software-as-a-Serviceprovider addressing said potential service load interruption prior tosaid user completing said one or more generated action items.
 3. Thecomputer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein the program codefurther comprises the programming instructions for: presenting one ormore additional generated action items to said user to be completed bysaid user after said user has completed said one or more generatedaction items in response to said Software-as-a-Service provider needingadditional time to address said potential service load interruption. 4.The computer program product as recited in claim 1, wherein said actionitems comprise one or more of the following: profile updates, metadataupdates, a countdown, a puzzle and a Completely Automated Public Turingtest to tell Computers and Humans Apart.
 5. The computer program productas recited in claim 1, wherein said action items are prioritized basedon perceived complexity and length of time to answer.
 6. The computerprogram product as recited in claim 1, wherein which of said one or moregenerated action items are presented to said user is based on acomputing device utilized by said user.
 7. The computer program productas recited in claim 1, wherein the program code further comprises theprogramming instructions for: monitoring said resource identified ashaving said excessive service load to determine if its utilization fallsbelow said threshold.
 8. The computer program product as recited inclaim 7, wherein the program code further comprises the programminginstructions for: retracting said identification of said resource ashaving said excessive service load in response to its utilizationfalling below said threshold.
 9. The computer program product as recitedin claim 8, wherein the program code further comprises the programminginstructions for: continuing to monitor said resource to determine ifits utilization exceeds said threshold after said retraction of saididentification of said resource as having said excessive service load.10. A system, comprising: a memory unit for storing a computer programfor handling potential service load interruptions; and a processorcoupled to the memory unit, wherein the processor is configured toexecute the program instructions of the computer program comprising:monitoring utilization of a resource in a service infrastructure of aSoftware-as-a-Service provider, wherein said monitoring of saidutilization of said resource comprises tracking a utilization of aperformance metric against a capacity of said resource in connectionwith said performance metric, wherein said performance metric comprisesone or more of the following: processing cycles, a number of requests tobe serviced over a period of time, memory usage, bandwidth usage, threadexhaustion and database lock contention; identifying said resource ashaving an excessive service load thereby causing a potential serviceload interruption in response to said resource utilization exceeding athreshold; receiving a request from a user to access said resource insaid service infrastructure of said Software-as-a-Service provider;generating one or more action items to be completed by said user inresponse to receiving said request from said user to access saidresource in said service infrastructure of said Software-as-a-Serviceprovider; presenting said one or more generated action items to saiduser to be completed by said user to provide said Software-as-a-Serviceprovider of said service infrastructure additional time to address saidpotential service load interruption; and enabling said request to beserviced in response to said Software-as-a-Service provider addressingsaid potential service load interruption.
 11. The system as recited inclaim 10, wherein the program instructions of the computer programfurther comprise: proceeding with servicing said request prior to saiduser completing said one or more generated action items in response tosaid Software-as-a-Service provider addressing said potential serviceload interruption prior to said user completing said one or moregenerated action items.
 12. The system as recited in claim 10, whereinthe program instructions of the computer program further comprise:presenting one or more additional generated action items to said user tobe completed by said user after said user has completed said one or moregenerated action items in response to said Software-as-a-Serviceprovider needing additional time to address said potential service loadinterruption.
 13. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein said actionitems comprise one or more of the following: profile updates, metadataupdates, a countdown, a puzzle and a Completely Automated Public Turingtest to tell Computers and Humans Apart.
 14. The system as recited inclaim 10, wherein said action items are prioritized based on perceivedcomplexity and length of time to answer.
 15. The system as recited inclaim 10, wherein which of said one or more generated action items arepresented to said user is based on a computing device utilized by saiduser.
 16. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein the programinstructions of the computer program further comprise: monitoring saidresource identified as having said excessive service load to determineif its utilization falls below said threshold.
 17. The system as recitedin claim 16, wherein the program instructions of the computer programfurther comprise: retracting said identification of said resource ashaving said excessive service load in response to its utilizationfalling below said threshold.
 18. The system as recited in claim 17,wherein the program instructions of the computer program furthercomprise: continuing to monitor said resource to determine if itsutilization exceeds said threshold after said retraction of saididentification of said resource as having said excessive service load.